Practice putting device



April 19, 1960 BQYNTQN 2,933,318

PRACTICE PUTTING DEVICE Filed Oct. 13, 1958 United States Patent 2,933,318 PRACTICE PUTTING DEVICE Edmund W. Boynton, Decatur, lll. Application October 13, 1958, Serial No. 767,002

4 Claims. (Cl. 273-178) The subject invention relates to a simulated golf cup for use on a parlor mg or other indoor flat surface which is comparable to a putting green. More specifically, the invention contemplates a practice golf putting device which simulates a golf cup to the extent that it will magnify the golfers error in direction or speed of the ball by deflecting the ball the same way as would occur on the golf green.

Practice putting cups for use on parlor carpeting or the like are known in the art, but invariably they suffer from the disadvantage of producing a faithfully accurate response to inaccurate approaches by the ball. For example, when a golf ball approaches the cup too fast, it usually hits the far rim and continues down the green. Similarly, if a combination of too much speed plus angular deflection is involved, the ball will scoot around the of the cup and pop out the far end. Only the well directed shot with the appropriate degree of speed at the time it arrives at the cup will drop in and stay in.

With the foregoing in mind, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a practice putting device which simulates faithfully the rimming action of an actual cup on a golf course green.

A further object of the present invention is to furnish a practice putting device which may be used on any flat surface, indoors or outdoors, to faithfully simulate a golf cup, and yet not require seating the practice device in a depression, hole or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a practice putting device with a rotatable cup to simulate the rimming action on an actual golf cup which is of light weight, simple, and inexpensive construction.

A related and more detailed object of the invention is to provide a practice putting device, the components of which can be molded as single pieces and assembled by unskilled help without the benefit of complex jigging, tooling and the like.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show one embodiment for illustrative purposes, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective partially broken view showing the subject practice golf device in place on a carpet and close to a golf ball and putter.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the practice golf device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse, enlarged, partially broken section taken along section line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view in reduced scale showing the ball path of a properly directed shot.

Fig. 5 is a plan view in reduced scale similar to Fig. 4 diagrammatically indicating the action of two bad shots in which the hall is deflected, simulating the cup rimming action occurring had the same shots been made on a putting green.

Referring now to Fig. 1 in the drawings, it will be seen that the practice putting device is circular in its P 2,933,318 Patented Apr. 19,1960

overall configuration, and rests flat upon the floor, carpeting or grass 11 where it is stationed. The silhouette is relatively flat and shallow, presenting but a few elements: A frusto-conical cup support rim 12, a frustoconical cup rim 14 and the cup 15 into which the ball 16 is driven by means of the putter 18.

Before going into the details of construction, it will prove helpful to outline the operation of the practice golf device 10 by reference to Figures 4 and 5. The cup 15 is journalled for rotation within the cup support 19. The frusto-conical rim 14 of the cup defines an angle with the horizontal greater than with the frusto-conical rim 12 of the cup support 19. As a result, when the ball is driven toward the cup 15 along the paths a, b, c as indicated, the ball rises slightly when it impinges upon the cup rim 14. In the event the ball is well stroked, it will not rotate the cup 15 when it hits the cup rim 14. If the ball is not properly stroked, such as shown in Fig. 5, the ball will rise and then be deflected laterally as it impinges upon the cup rim 14. The rolling friction of the ball against the cup rim 14 forces the cup rim 14 to rotate, thereby spinning or deflecting the ball from the cup 15 as shown in Fig. 5.

In addition, if the ball is stroked too heavily even though the direction is accurate such as shown in Fig. 4, the ball will bounce out of the cup and go over the far side because of the shallow construction of the entire practice golf device 10.

, The details of construction are more evident in the Fig. 3 of the drawings where it will be seen that the cup support 19 may be molded, spun, turned or cast from a single piece of material. A frusto-conical rim portion 12 is provided which is proportioned to angle with the horizontal within the range of 10 to 20, 15 having been experimentally determined as the optimum. The cup mount 20 has a cylindrical side wall 21 and a flat base 22 immediately above the floor or support for the practice golf device 10. A circular groove 24 is provided to receive a plurality of bearings 25 retained in a race or similar retaining member 26.

In a preferred embodiment, the cup diameter was 11 /2" and the cup receiver 6" in diameter, with the overall height being 1". Thus the ratio of width to height approximates 10 to 1, but may vary somewhat due to changes in the angularity of the frusto-conical side wall.

The cup 15 has a shallow cylindrical side wall 28 and a base portion 29, the cylindrical side wall 28 approximating /2", with the cup diameter approximating 4", or a ratio of 8 to l. The frusto-conical rim 14 of the cup 15 bears an angle with the horizontal within the range of 15 to 25, 20 having been experimentally determined as an optimum. A circular recessed groove 30 is provided in the cup base 29 in order to receive the bearing 25 and thereby support the cup 15 for free rotation. A flocking or roughened surface is provided on the cup rim 14 to increase the friction of the ball thereon.

While ball bearings have been shown to rotatably support the cup 15, it will be appreciated that the invention is not so limited but contemplates any satisfactory friction-reducing means which will support the cup 15 for free rotation within the cup support 19 consonant with the operable qualifications set forth above. For example, a /2 radial 15 ball bearing /s" thick has performed satisfactorily.

It is contemplated that the cup support will be molded from a single piece of polyethylene and the cup spun from thin aluminum in order that the inertia of the cup be held to the irreducible minimum. These materials and the constructions indicated above will achieve good operation and render the device susceptible H of inexpensive and economic manufacture.

Although one particular embodiment of the practice putting device has been shown and described in full here, there is no intention to thereby limit the invention to the details of such embodiment. "On theg'contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications alter native embodiments, usages and equivalents of the practice putting device as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, specification and appended claims.

'I claim as my invention: ,7

1. A practice putting device comprising, in combination, a cup support member, saidcup support having a shallow -frusto-conical rim portion, a central recessed cup in said cup support having a base, a ballreceiving' cup, said ball'receiving cup having a side wall and a circular base, a frusto-conical rim on said ball receiving cap sloping downwardly to an edge adjacent to the inner edge of the frusto-conical portion of the cup support, said cup rim defining an angle with the horizontal exceeding that of the support rim, and bearing means betweenthe cup and cup supportwhereby theball receiving cup is supported for free rotation with the cup support member. i

2. A practice putting device comprising, in combination, a 'cup'support member, said cup support having a shallow fnlsto-conical rim portion, 'a central recessed cup in said cup support having a base, a ball receiving cup, said ball receiving cup having-a side wall and a circular base, a frusto-conical rim on said ball receiving cu-p sloping downwardly to an edge adjacent ;to the inner edge of the frusto-conical portion of the cup support, said cup rim defining an angle with the horizontal exceeding that of the support rim by and a bearing assembly between the cup and cup support whereby-the ball receiving cup is supported for free rotation the cup support.

3. A practice putting device comprising, in combinaweenie tion, a cup support member, said cup support having a shallow frusto-conical rim portion, said frusto-conical rim portion defining an angle with the horizontal in the range of 10 to 20, a central recessed cup in said cup support having a side wall and a base, a ball receiving cup, said ball receiving cup having a side wall and a circular base, a frusto-conical rim on said ball receiving cup sloping downward-1y .to an edge adjacent to the V in the range of ,to 25 and bearingmeans between the cup and cup supportwhereby the ball receiying cup is supported for free rdt'ation within*the"ci1p support.

4. A practice putting device comprising, in combination, a cup support member, said cup support having a shallow frusto-conical portion, said frusto-conical rim portion defining an angle with the horizontal in the range of 10 to 20", acentral reces s ed cup in said we support havin a nd l s a a d s rulfi b se hea n l i qpv wa r d i Sa Qual r, a a ec v n a sa 'b eq i can he cylindrical ,side wall andia circular base, a bear ove in sai ur bas t dr y iea e 0. the cup support bearing ii9,-g QV, a 519993 1 rim on said ball receiving cup sloping-idol wardly an edge adjacent to the inner edge of the frustogconical p t 0f p -PP r =2 9i P i i fdfi iil an angle with the horizontal in the range of 15 to 25,arid a bearing assembly proportioned to rest within tlie clip aridicup u p r er n r rb h re th b lied?- ing cup is supported for free rotation the References Qitd in the tile or this patent U ED- TATE ATENT Clarke :May 16, 950 

